topic Re: Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube in Streaming

Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube

UserUK2026 — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 13:48:11 GMT

When opening a video on YouTube it'll automatically be set to 360p and after about 3 seconds it'll freeze and crash. If I manually set the quality to 1080 before it crashes and the video will play fine.

This started happening mid December and I was hoping an update would fix it but nothing's changed so far.

I've factory reset the device multiple times, rebooted and tested the router but speeds are fine in everything else. I've also reinstalled the YouTube app multiple times. If I set a video to 1080 sometimes it'll remember for a few videos then end up back on 360p and crash.

YouTube plays fine on my other devices through the same router and I see no way of globally setting the quality in the YouTube app on Chromecast like you can on a mobile.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Re: Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube

Rusell — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 22:58:05 GMT

Hi UserUK2026,

Thank you for posting. I understand that YouTube automatically sets the resolution to 360p, and then after about 3 seconds, it freezes and crashes. This also happens when you manually set it to 1080p before the video crashes and then plays normally on your Chromecast. I appreciate the troubleshooting you’ve done so far and the information provided. I’d be happy to help you!

To help you further, I'd like to ask you these questions below:

What kind of Google Chromecast do you have? If you're not sure, please take a look at this article: How to factory reset your Chromecast or Google TV Streamer
Did the inconvenience occur with other applications?

Keep me posted.

Best regards,

Rusell

Re: Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube

UserUK2026 — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 23:11:06 GMT

Hi Russell,

Yes if I set the quality to auto it'll set it at 360p then crash but if I manually set it to something else it's fine for that video and occasionally a few more until sometime puts it back on 360p and crashes again.

My device is the Chromecast with Google tv

Strangely and I'm not sure if this is linked I have noticed that when watching some shows on itvx (usually from Britbox) that they play at half speed visually but the audio is fine. But again if I cast the same show to the Chromecast it plays fine. Which makes me think it's either a driver or hardware issue and I'm considering replacing it altogether.

Re: Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube

Rusell — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 20:00:15 GMT

Hi UserUK2026,

Thank you for your reply. The team would like to learn more about this behavior. When you get a chance, please fill out this form and let us know when you’re finished. We’ll have someone reach out to you via email from there.

Be sure to submit the following relevant information:

Community Thread
Community Username
Email address

Keep me posted.

Best regards,

Rusell.

Re: Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube

UserUK2026 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 08:27:09 GMT

All sent, sorry for the delay I'll post if I get a reply and hopefully a fix

Re: Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube

Fringort — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 04:55:08 GMT

Did they ever find a fix?

Re: Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube

CaptainSkeptic — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 06:37:21 GMT

I have this exact same problem that arose a couple days ago on two different Chromecasts with Google TV within a day of each other. Changing YouTube from Beta to not Beta didn't help -- it happens with two different version numbers of the app. As the original poster wrote, the only way to watch a video is to quickly switch the resolution to something other than 360p.

Re: Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube

fl_man — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:35:41 GMT

Same issue, same solution. Thanks to the community members. I hope this gets fixed soon.

Re: Chromecast crashing when playing video on YouTube

GeraltOfRivia — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 09:55:25 GMT

Has anyone fixed this somehow.